This disclosure relates to the chemical processing of biomass material to produce useful byproducts.
Biomass material is known and used as a renewable energy source. Among other uses, biomass material is chemically processed to produce useful byproducts, such as biofuels for energy production.
Lignocellulosic biomass material is a plant biomass that is composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. In a typical process to convert lignocellulosic biomass to useful byproducts, the lignocellulosic biomass material is broken down into its three main components. The cellulose component and hemicellulose component are further chemically processed to produce the useful byproducts. The lignin portion of the lignocellulosic biomass material is a complex chemical compound that is not used to produce the useful byproducts. The fermentation and processing methods that break down the cellulose and hemicellulose portions of the lignocellulosic biomass material are not effective to break down the lignin. The lignin is therefore an unusable waste byproduct.